When Elon Musk decided to install a Starlink Internet connection for a remote tribe in the Amazon, he probably thought they would spend their time enjoying global connectivity, searching for recipes, or signing up for Twitter Blue. Instead, the tribesmen have been too preoccupied with the endless sea of Internet pornography.
He New York Times reports that the tribe's youth have been viewing a large amount of graphic sexual content online, sharing explicit images with each other in group chats, and criticizing the chaste and conservative rules of the Marubo tribe. Alfredo, a leader of the Marubo tribe, said The New York Times that he was worried about the immediate effects: “We are worried that young people will want to try it. He also reported that some leaders of other tribes had observed “more aggressive sexual behavior” among young men.
Alfredo, like other people in the tribe, also expressed discomfort with other easily accessible Internet features, such as violent video games, chatting with strangers on Instagram, and, as tribe member Tsainama Marubo says, “the customs of the whites.” Alfredo worries that people pay less attention to each other, saying, “Everyone is so connected that sometimes they don't even talk to their own family.”
The installation of Starlink sparked some heated debates within the Amazon tribe, but they also found some undeniable benefits to being connected. They can now contact emergency services, which, given the high density of snakes, fish and poisonous insects in the Amazon, is a big advantage.
Still, despite the practicality of the Internet, many members of the tribe and beyond are worried that their ancient traditions will be minimized and eliminated by future generations as the online experience begins to alter their psyches. Brazilian activist Flora Dutras feels that while indigenous groups deserve connectivity, she is distrustful of the way it is provided to them. “This is called ethnocentrism: the white man thinks he knows what is best,” Dutras said.
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